Fortuna ’60 Soccer Club would like to announce that they have appointed Greg Shankland as Senior Women’s Coach for the 2016 season with the view of this extending into 2017. Greg will be assisted in the role by 2015 women’s coach Emily Haesler, who is keen to remain involved in the women’s team for the upcoming season.

Greg will also be overseeing our under16/17 girls’ team and is also planning to develop this group towards playing senior women’s football. He will also be mentoring 2015 player Grace Bonnici who will be taking on a coaching role with our younger girls in the 13/14 year old age bracket for the 2016 season.

The Fortuna committee is making it a priority to develop and grow the girls/women’s side of the club and believe that Greg is the ideal candidate to undertake this role. As a club Fortuna is looking at re-uniting both the men’s and women’s sides by training on the same nights, promoting greater involvement in social activities and ensuring that both teams feel like that they are equally supported and valued.

Club President Sep Deluca stated “we need to be united and have the club grow as one, both the men’s and women’s sides of the club can provide equal value moving forward. We are looking forward to supporting Greg next season and are excited about what he can bring to this role.”

Greg comes to the role with many years of coaching both junior girls and boys regional representative squads and recently capped off his junior coaching career with League Championships in the 2015 central division under 14 boys and 16 girls competitions with Fortuna. The under 16 girls also completed the double by winning the 2015 Grand Final. Greg is extremely excited about both the youth and experience that the club has on offer and cannot wait to see how this blends together on the pitch. Greg has stressed that the 2016 season is all about development and growing a positive team culture so as the team has a solid base moving forward.

The Fortuna Committee are looking at undertaking some different marketing options to attract players and promote women’s soccer in the 2016 season. “we would love to see a women’s game under lights on a Friday or Sat night, this would be a great way to promote the women’s game to a wider audience.”

The Club will be hosting a “meet the coaches” session in the coming weeks(date to be announced soon)  and encourage all interested players to come down and say hello to our new senior coaching team.

Greg is also happy to take calls from any interested female players(new or old) aged 15 an above to discuss playing at Fortuna in the 2016 season, he can be contacted on 0401 100287